Community Justice

We are committed to engaging communities and harnessing the power of the justice system to address local problems and improve public safety.

The Center for Court Innovation created the first community court in 1993. Located a short walk from New York City’s Times Square, the Midtown Community Court works with people in the neighborhood to tailor creative responses to local concerns. Since then, we have worked to bring the idea of community justice to other New York City neighborhoods (Red Hook, Harlem, Brownsville, and others), and to jurisdictions around the world that are interested in reinvigorating public trust in justice, reducing the use of incarceration and forging new responses to minor offending. We have also helped launch the National Community Court Initiative, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance.

We have also worked to spread the idea of community justice beyond courts. For example, we have worked with prosecutors to encourage them to not only prosecute cases, but to solve public safety problems, prevent crime, and improve public trust in justice. Rather than simply tallying cases won and sentences imposed, prosecutors should measure the effect of their work on quality of life, community attitudes, and crime. To support such efforts, we work with local prosecutors and national experts such as the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and Fair and Just Prosecution.

Initiatives

National Community Court Initiative

The National Community Court Initiative supports the creation, enhancement, and evaluation of community-focused courts across the country.
Bronx Community Solutions

Bronx Community Solutions provides community-based alternatives to jail, restores community relationships, and helps participants avoid further criminal justice involvement.
Brooklyn Young Adult Court

The Brooklyn Young Adult Court seeks to provide meaningful alternatives to conventional prosecution for young people, ages 18 to 24, charged with misdemeanors.
Brownsville Community Justice Center

The Brownsville Community Justice Center works to reduce crime and incarceration, and strengthen community trust in justice in central Brooklyn.
Harlem Community Justice Center

The Harlem Community Justice Center is a neighborhood-based community court committed to bridging the gap between the court and community to achieve fairness and systematic equity in housing, commu
International Community Court Conferences

Every two years, we bring together passionate people dedicated to innovations in community justice.
Mentor Community Courts

These community courts enhance assistance provided by the Center for Court Innovation by serving as regional resources for jurisdictions looking to implement similar community justice initiatives.
Midtown Community Court

The Midtown Community Court is one of the country's first problem-solving courts. It provides alternatives to fines and jail as a response to low-level crime.
Newark Community Solutions

Newark Community Solutions applies a problem-solving approach to low-level cases in Newark, New Jersey’s municipal courthouse.
Red Hook Community Justice Center

The nation's first multi-jurisdictional community court, the Red Hook Community Justice Center seeks to solve neighborhood problems in southwest Brooklyn.

Publications & Digital Media

Publication
Fact Sheet: The Bronx Community Justice Center

The Bronx Community Justice Center works to create a safer, more equitable Bronx through community-driven public safety initiatives, youth opportunity, and economic mobility efforts focused in the South Bronx. Our vision is to support the South Bronx community to become a safe and thriving place where local ownership, community-led investment, and youth opportunity can flourish. The Bronx Community Justice Center works toward this vision by focusing on community safety, restorative practices, and youth and economic development.

Community Justice, Diversion, Placemaking, Reducing Trauma, Reducing Violence, Youth Initiatives
Publication
Health, Housing, and Justice Alliance

by Caitlin Flood, Alyssa Goodpaster, Masha Miura, and Kelly Mulligan-Brown

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations and institutions to shift to operating remotely, disparities driven by the digital divide became a shared problem across major cross-sector systems important to a community’s well-being. The Health, Housing, and Justice Alliance sought to eliminate inequities of fully virtual legal, healthcare, and social services through the creation of pop-up navigation centers and court hubs throughout Newark, New Jersey.

Access to Justice, Community Justice, Problem-Solving Justice
Video
Changemakers in Action: Kristina Singleton

Kristina Singleton works on diverting people from court into supportive or educational programming. Among the programs she works with at the Midtown Community Court are Project Reset, which offers those charged with a low-level crime the chance to avoid court and a criminal record by completing community-based programming, and a recently launched youth gun-diversion program for young people who have been arrested on gun possession charges.

Community Justice, Diversion, Problem-Solving Justice, Workforce Development

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News

Community-Based Violence Interruption Programs can Reduce Gun Violence

July 14, 2022
American Progress

Violence interruption is a community-based strategy to reduce gun violence and improve public safety in neighborhoods. Our anti-violence program Save Our Streets is profiled and named as a highly successful example of curbing gun violence in the South Bronx, reducing gun victimization by 63 percent in its initial years of implementation.
A New Group to Help Times Square Emerge from COVID-19 Pandemic

June 3, 2022
City & State

President of the Times Square Alliance, Tom Harris, talks about the area’s recovery and shares more about the partnership with our Midtown Town Community Court, Breaking Ground, and Fountain House to create the Community First program, which connects the unhoused populations of Times Square to local resources, including housing and mental health services.
Many Cities are Putting Hopes in Violence Interrupters, but Few Understand Their Challenges

May 10, 2022
NBC News

Detailing some of the joys and challenges of violence interruption work, NBC News highlights Save Our Streets and interviews James Brodick, the Center for Court Innovation’s director of community development and crime prevention. He stresses the need for workforce development in communities, including violence interrupters, so they face less burn out or have ceilings on their professional trajectories.

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